Young Malaysians put their AI skills to work at the AI Muda@NADI Hackathon 2026, building solutions for real challenges in the country’s plantations and commodities sector. The theme was “AI Innovation for the Future of Plantations and Commodities,” and 26 finalist teams of students from Form 1 to Form 6 presented ideas on sustainability, plantation productivity, smart farming, environmental conservation, and commodity innovation.
Over two days, the winning team was INNOVIQ from Kolej Vokasional Perdagangan Johor Bahru. They built TerraScan, an AI-powered smart agriculture app that combines soil analysis, crop recommendations, weather forecasting, farm simulation, and financial management to support smarter farming decisions. The team’s stated aim is to improve crop yields, cut operating costs, strengthen food security, and promote sustainable farming.
The hackathon was the culmination of AI Muda@NADI, part of the AI@NADI Training Programme 2026. It was run in August by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) with CelcomDigi through the National Information Dissemination Centres (NADI). More than 9,000 secondary school students completed six online modules covering prompt engineering, responsible AI use, creative content development, and AI for learning and productivity, then submitted their work through a dedicated online assessment system.
Finalists were chosen based on four components: AI apps built with vibe coding, AI videos, AI prompt trails, and AI project cards. Judges looked at the problem addressed, the proposed AI solution, relevance to Malaysian challenges, and alignment with the SDGs. Each team had four students plus one supervising teacher from the same school, and finalists came from schools in every state. The programme runs in partnership with UKM’s Faculty of Education and Google for Education, with support from the Ministry of Education and MRSM.
MCMC and CelcomDigi plan to expand AI@NADI to tertiary students and working professionals in the near future.
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